Because they do not corrode, are light weight, and are easy to clean, unlike metal conveyor belts, plastic conveyor belts are used widely, especially in conveying food products. Modular plastic conveyor belts are made up of molded plastic modular links, or belt modules, that can be arranged side-by-side in rows of selectable width. A series of spaced apart link ends extending from each side of the modules include aligned apertures to accommodate a pivot rod. The link ends along one end of a row of modules are interconnected with the link ends of an adjacent row. A pivot rod journaled in the aligned apertures of the side-by-side and end-to-end connected modules forms a hinge between adjacent rows. Rows of belt modules are connected together to form an endless conveyor belt capable of articulating about a drive sprocket.
Modular belts are often used to transport goods that should stay in place on the belt during transport. The goods should not shift when the belt is moving upwards, downwards, or around a curve. When the belt moves around a curve, there is a risk of the goods shifting sideways due to centrifugal forces.
Sometimes goods are transported in trays made of metal or plastic. This usage is typical in bakeries. The coefficient of friction between the trays and the belt is usually very low, which makes shifting of the goods even easier. To avoid shifting of the goods in the incline, various solutions have been offered, mainly solid molded flights extending above the top surface of the module.
For preventing goods from shifting sideways over the belt edge, side guards have been used such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,901, which is incorporated herein by reference. The patent discloses a side guard that is snapped into the module. Other side guards inserted in the belt along its edges may be secured by pivot rods that extend through openings (eyelets) of the plates.
In specific applications, where the goods need to be transported in two or more parallel lengthwise rows, lane dividers are needed to divide the belt surface into two or more lanes separated by platelike attachments. The lane dividers are needed particularly for radius belts, where the centrifugal forces may help to move the goods on the belt.
Lane dividers for radius belts are typically of the snap-on type. Since there is very little room on the links for the snap-on function to avoid hindering the collapsing, it is difficult to make the divider secure enough.
There is a need for a simple device that can inexpensively and flexibly be installed in various places on modular belts. Particularly there is a need for such devices which can be installed on a modular belt without hindering the collapsing of the belt rows when moving through a curve but providing a secure attachment without the risk of the divider falling off.